US places Nigeria on watch-list of countries that engage in religious persecution

Bayo Wahab 19:05 - 21 December 2019

Nigerian Shiite cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky had been in custody in Nigeria since his arrest in December 2015

In a statement released on Friday to announce the development, the United State did not state why Nigeria was added to the list.

The United States has placed Nigeria on its Special Watch List (SWL) of countries that engage in severe religious persecution.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo announced this in a statement on Friday, December 20, 2019.

However, the statement did not state why Nigeria was added to the list.

President Muhammadu Buhari led-administration has since 2015 been having a serious issue with leaders and members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) better known as Shiites. (PMNews)

The statement reads in part, “On December 18, 2019, the Department of State re-designated Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom.

“The Department renewed the placement of Comoros, Russia, and Uzbekistan on a Special Watch List (SWL) for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom,” and added Cuba, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Sudan to this list.

“Sudan was moved to the SWL due to significant steps taken by the civilian-led transitional government to address the previous regime’s “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

However, it is believed that the inclusion of Nigeria on the list may be connected to the continuous detention of the leader of the Islamic Movement if Nigeria, (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and the subsequent clashes between the Nigeria Police Force and IMN members.